No, probably not and it never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t think about how they will be perceived. The fact is that social media channels such as LinkedIn are fast becoming the first place that employers and recruiters look to source candidates and/or people to network with.
With that thought in mind then, would you put a picture of you necking a yard of beer on a stag do or a picture of you and your other half onto your CV? If the answer to this is yes – please stop reading now as you are probably beyond the point of help!
Your picture, rightly or wrongly is likely to be the first thing that someone sees when they open your profile. I recently wrote a blog on the do’s and don’ts when creating a CV and one of the points was around people insisting on including a picture of themselves on a CV – it doesn’t improve your chances in any way, and it certainly is more likely to put someone off.
Social media is fast falling split into 2 categories.
1 – Your social life media where you and your friends and family look at each other and what you’ve been up to – e.g. Facebook
2 – Your professional life social media where you discuss and look at what people are doping and sharing that has a bearing in their career including a potential change in job – e.g. LinkedIn
There are of course the likes of Twitter, Foursquare and Pinterest that can be both so my advice would be to look at your profile and in particular your picture/avatar and decide if that profile is used for professional or social purposes. If it’s for professional purposes, use a professional picture of just you and no other implements/people/animals/minerals/silly hats on it. Also remember that potential employers are becoming savvy to social media and may look at what you’ve been up to on your “social life” media page, so if you don’t want them to see it, lock it down and keep it private and for just those who you want to see it. Who knows the connection requests and followers may start pouring in.
recruitmentcol 
I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone else encountering problems with your site. It seems like some of the text on your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too? This may be a problem with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Thanks
First of all I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior to writing. I’ve had trouble clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there. I do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Cheers!
Hi there – Thanks for the comments and question. I haven’t had anyone else mention about the text, so I guess it may be the browser that you are using? In terms of how I start… well once I have the idea, particularly if it’s something that’s happened that sparked the idea, I write it down. I then keep going back to the idea and thinking about its point and why I’m doing it and write with that in my mind. I find that once I get going it all just flows because of the ‘end’ point. By the way, I write it in Word and save it and keep going back to it over the course of a couple of days as it’s never quite right. Then I publish. Hope that help?!